Matt's Book
In the early third season, Matt is writing a new gospel based on Kevin's life. There are only two known copies: the original, which Kevin Jr. burns in a Crown Central hotel room in Melbourne, and a copy, which Kevin Sr. throws in a trash can outside the cultural center in Kurripa. Text Text from the book can be read in the episode "Crazy Whitefella Thinking," by freeze framing: An evening came when Kevin laid his head to rest, his mind full of doubt and trepidation, and when he woke he was no longer in the same place. He was far from Mapleton, in the woods outside of Cairo, and he did not know how he had gotten there. And so he walked through the trees and came upon a cabin, and when he entered the cabin he found Patricia bound and tied to a chair. And he said to her, “How did you come to be here?” And she told him it was by own hand. Though he did not understand, or know whether what she said was true, he asked her if she was hurt, and she said that she was not. He made to untie her, and told her both he and she could go free and move about the world as though none of it had happened, and she laughed at him with great derision and told him it could not be so. She said, “Get me a cigarette and I will tell you how it will be,” and so he got her a cigarette, and he lit it, and she told him he would have to kill her if he did not want her to go back to Mapleton and ruin him. “I will not kill you,” Kevin told her. “I am not that kind of man.” She taunted him and her lip quivered with rage, and he said to her, “Be reasonable, I mean you no harm,” but she would not hear his kindness, and she instead replied, “You do mean me harm, and you would say it if you were honest. You are not an honest man, and you do not know it.” And so Kevin took himself outside to smoke tobacco and consider his predicament, and when he returned he told her that she must explain to him the workings of the Guilty Remnant, and she laughed at him and derided him again, and he took himself outside to smoke tobacco. … returned he found …stic bag on the h… did not … … to save her life, and return to her the air she needed, and he did … And they both breathed … and gathered them … did Patricia once again told … was a liar. … is that I am … … understand … “And you are. We of the Guilty Remnant do not pretend that there is such a thing as love. And in this way we give ourselves freedom, and with the clarity that come sic from this freedom, we are once again given purpose. A reason to exist. Something to live for. And to die for.” And despite her accusations and vitriol, Kevin told her that her words meant nothing, and he rose and freed her, and told her that he did not care if she tried to strip him of his badge, and that he would not kill her as she wished. And so Patricia reached … a took a shard of glass and …ed it though her own neck, telling him, “You understand.” But … did not. And he wept for her, though she had been his great enemy. Kevin did not know what to do, and so he called his friend Matthew and asked him for his help. Matthew asked no questions, and simply drove out to the woods, and together they discussed the matter, and Kevin pleaded with him, and said, “I did not kill her,” and Matthew believed him. Together they did bury the body of Patricia and tell no one what had happened, and when the hole was dug and the body of Patricia laid down, Matthew told Kevin, “You must read from the Book and lay her to rest.” Kevin said he did not want to do so, but Matthew insisted, and Kevin took the Book and read, and it calmed him down, and it was good. And when the work was done they left the woods and drove to have a cheeseburger. They are heartily, and while they ate, Kevin said to Matthew, “I fear the Great Departure was caused by my own vanity and sin. I fear my family is in ruins because of it.” And Matthew said to Kevin, “The Great Departure did not happen because of you. Those of us left to wonder all feel the same things as you.” And Kevin cried as he spoke, but in the end he was relived of a great burden. So when they were done, Kevin took himself to the bathroom in order to gather himself and think about all that had transpired. It was then that he heard the sounds of a man mumbling, and he turned, and looked into one of the stalls. Inside the stall was the man they called Holy Wayne, and he was covered in his own blood, and he was near death. Kevin leaned down and told him he would go for help, but Wayne asked him to stay, and he asked him his name. “My name is Kevin,” he said. “How can I help?” The man they called Holy Wayne begged for Kevin to stay with him, as he did not have long to live, and did not want to be alone at the moment of his death. So Kevin stayed. “Do me a favor,” said the man they called Holy Wayne. “Ask me for a wish. I have lived my life as a holy man, but in my time of death I have begun to doubt what powers I have.” And so Kevin did as he asked and he closed his eyes and he made his wish, and soon thereafter, Holy Wayne died. In "Don't Be Ridiculous," Grace briefly quotes from the page she found: And he looked at them and raised his hand, but they did not wave in response. And so he clutched the stone to his chest and jumped into the water. In "Crazy Whitefella Thinking," Grace further summarizes the page she read thus: "It tells of a man, a police chief named Kevin who drowned and passed into the land of the dead and spoke to them. Who freed them from their pain and rose again." More text can be read by freeze framing in "G'Day Melbourne": For, unknowing, He feared He had lost his mind, but He had not. And so He came to her to ask of her advice and she welcomed Him. Though fearing her response, knowing she would not react as the old man or his grandson, He did not spare any detail of His story. He told her of the woman who became the demon, who the mother of His children had known and known well in their former home. He told her that the demon had come back from the dead to stay with Him as His enemy. She still did not react when he told her that the demon had followed Him to His new home, in His new rooms, with His new family. Once He had explained all He could of the demon, He took … mother of His children. Still she was … He did not understand her peace … of his turmoil, though she did have questions for Him … for Him particularly in … purpose. And no He … desired of …ant … she … until He … asked whether the demon remained … in her company. To this … she did not. The mother of … was pleased, for, she avowed, this … the demon did not exist. And … saw the truth of the mother of His … that she was not a believer nor could … for her knowledge of the mind had limited her knowledge of the spirit, and though her counsel was genuine, it did not apply to Him. Verily, in her certainty, He Himself grew more certain. His demon could not be battled in the world of the mind, but rather, as the old man had taught, He must battle her in the world of the dead. He did not reveal this to the mother of His children but instead gave her purpose, directing her to the protection of their daughter, though she resisted. He would not tell her of His plan. For to drink the poison was insanity. Or it was faith. He chose faith. And the mother of His children could only manage faith enough to return to His home with Him and face the daughter she had harmed. Kevin would return to the old man alone, knowing what he must do. Nora reads another portion aloud, also in "G'Day Melbourne": And so He left the bridge and the hangman behind. And when He went into the woods, He lifted the girl to His shoulder and she slept, she pressed to Him and He to her. Now the sun rose and they had come to a well, and he placed the girl down upon its edge and ...